Mr. Tickle (Mr. Men and Little Miss) - Roger Hargreaves > Reviews (5)

Mr Tickle is the first and original Mr Men, which appeared in 1971. He was to be the first in a long line of short stories produced by Roger Hargreaves and later, on his son Adam. His appeal has not faded throughout the years and he is still a favourite. My son was drawn to this book and it started the Mr Men and Little Miss frenzy now happening in our house.

Mr Tickle is a small round orange being with extraordinarily long arms that stretch and stretch and are very handy for tickling. He appears on the cover of this book with a very wide smile and lifting his little blue hat as if to say hello.

The story starts with Mr Tickle asleep in his house on the other side of the woods. He woke up after laughing out loud in his sleep and felt hungry. He decides to stretch his extraordinary long arms to reach into the downstairs kitchen and took a biscuit to bring back up to bed with him. Now he is looking forward to the day ahead and decides that it is a good day for tickling. So he sets off looking for anybody to tickle.
He proceeds to cause havoc through the town.
He tickles a teacher and send a wave of laughter through the classroom without the teacher knowing what has happened, he tickles the policeman, the doctor as well as the railway station guard (amongst others) and in turn causes the train to be late and leaving the passenger furious. Each tickle has its consequence but Mr Tickle is happy to be doing what he likes to do and no one is spared,
Mr Tickle then goes home and laughs every time he thinks of the day's tickles but if you are ticklish beware of those long arms as they may be right behind you ,maybe even now, and you could be well and truly tickled…!

The appeal of this book is that it appeals to children as it has visual stimulation with the pictures on the right hand side and this particular book promotes interaction as it asks question (eg: Do you know what he did and the like). It is also quite short and an easy read. In short it is the format of a great book to introduce children to reading and interacting with a parent.

This book is number 1 in the series. Subsequent titles are shown on the back cover and depending when your book was printed, it will show you what was available at the time. There is currently 46 Mr Men Titles and current issues are priced £2.50 but can be found on offer. Currently in Morrissons for 2 for £2 and I find mine in charity shop for around 0.50p each or on car boots for various prices.

There is also Mr Men merchandise available. I have recently bought Mr Men underwear in Asda for my son for around £4.50 for 6 and there are t-shirts available in Marks and Spencers 2 for £10.00 (although Mr Tickle t-shirt is not guaranteed- have been trying to get hold of one for 6 months now).

For more information, visit www.mrmen.com (will show you the current offer on book storage and other info)

ISBN: 0-7498-5182-1

This review is for the book not the audio one.